prude

noun

ˈprüd 

: a person who is excessively or priggishly attentive to propriety or decorum

especially : a woman who shows or affects extreme modesty

Synonyms of prude

• puritan

Examples of prude in a Sentence

He is too much of a prude to enjoy movies containing sex and violence.

the racy sitcom frequently satirizes exactly the sort of prude who would like to see the show taken off the air

Recent Examples on the Web

What the spot tries to do, convince folks in this left-leaning redoubt to be venturesome and vote for Hilton, is not the least offensive, though your friendly political columnist, hardly a prude, found the execution a bit, well, icky. — Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

But that brief flash of cartoon baby nudity continues to bother prudes, decades after the book’s first run. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026

Critics leapt at the chance to cast feminists as prudes and housewives as vixens. — Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026

In fact, the prudes among us might need hand fans. — Sandra Gonzalez, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French, good woman, prudish woman, short for prudefemme good woman, from Old French prode femme

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for prude

• blued
• booed
• brewed
• brood
• chewed
• cooed
• coude
• crude
• cued
• dude
• feud
• food

Kids Definition

prude

noun

ˈprüd 

: a person who is easily shocked or offended by things that do not shock or offend others

prudish

ˈprüd-ish

adjective

prudishly adverb

prudishness noun